Lancaster, CA, September 15 – A motorcyclist died Tuesday afternoon after a collision with a vehicle in Lancaster, according to authorities. Los Angeles County fire and paramedic crews responded to the scene and took the rider to a hospital for treatment. He later died from his injuries, according to the Lancaster Police Department, and his identity has not been made public as officials work to notify his family.
Lancaster Motorcyclist Dies in Collision at West Avenue I and 13th Street West
The collision occurred at approximately 12:27 p.m. at the intersection of West Avenue I and North 13th Street West in Lancaster. The motorcyclist was involved in a crash with a vehicle at that location. Los Angeles County firefighters and paramedics were called to respond and provide emergency medical care at the scene.
Paramedics transported the motorcyclist to a hospital, where he was treated for his injuries. He later died as a result of the crash, according to the Lancaster Police Department. The name of the hospital that treated him has not been released, nor has the exact time of his death been made public.
The motorcyclist’s name has not been released. According to the Lancaster Police Department, authorities are withholding his identity while they work to notify his family. No further details about the crash, including what led to the collision, have been made public at this time.
Lane splitting, and what the Vehicle Code actually says
Vehicle Code section 21658.1 defines lane splitting and authorises the California Highway Patrol to develop educational guidelines for it. What matters after a crash is the distinction the section draws: lane splitting is not prohibited in California, and not prohibited is not the same thing as legal.
The practical effect is that a rider who was lane splitting has not broken a rule by doing so, and an insurer that treats lane splitting as automatic fault is asserting something the statute does not say. Fault still turns on how each party behaved, the same as in any other collision.
The deadline that applies to a claim like this one
Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1 gives two years for an action for injury to, or for the death of, an individual caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another. The same two years covers an injury claim and a death claim; there is no separate, shorter period because someone died.
Who is entitled to bring a claim when someone is killed
Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60 decides who may bring a wrongful death action. The first group is the surviving spouse, domestic partner, children and the issue of deceased children, or, where there is no surviving issue, whoever would take the estate by intestate succession.
A second group may bring the action only if they were financially dependent on the person who died: a putative spouse and their children, stepchildren, parents, and the legal guardians of the person who died where the parents are deceased. Parents are in that second group, which is the part families are most often surprised by, because dependency has to be shown rather than assumed.
Talking to someone about it
Culver Legal represents people injured in collisions across California. A conversation about what happened costs nothing, and we work on a contingency fee, which means there is no fee unless we win. If we do not win, we do not pass the case costs on to you either.
Nothing on this page is legal advice about any particular case, and the facts of a reported collision often change as the investigation continues.
